DENVER -- For a month, the Raiders struggled with their offensive identity.

The downfall started with receivers and running backs wondering why each wasn't more involved. Raiders coaches heard the suggestions and each week a different Raider would be featured. But the losses mounted, culminating in a four-game losing streak. A week ago Sunday against the 49ers, the Raiders reached more toward the run and lost again. They had hit rock bottom.

But in Denver -- a graveyard for Oakland's hopes for the past seven years -- the Raiders ripped off the eye patch, stared in the mirror and found their identity. Like it or not, the Raiders are a short-passing, audible to the air offense. Call it a commitment to dink, but this is what this Raiders team does best.

	Rich Gannon will decide exactly how far the Raiders go this season.

"Why not at this point?'' said Raiders receiver Tim Brown, sounding like the final convert. "Whatever we need to do to win, we need to do. Some of the guys on this offense can make plays, so why not get them the ball. Why not? Charlie Garner is still involved with the passing game as he would be involved with the running game. Jerry Porter makes a couple of plays. Then there's Roland Williams. When he gets the ball, then the whole world is OK.''

The Raiders threw off the disguises and destroyed the Broncos 34-10 on Monday night. They scrapped the run. Quarterback Rich Gannon completed 34 of 38 passes for 352 yards and three touchdowns and made a mockery of conventional NFL offensive philosophy. From the fourth play of the second quarter until 8:42 of the fourth quarter, Gannon didn't call a single running play.

Of course, it helps when the quarterback is so hot that he completed an NFL single-game record 21 in a row. For the first time since their 4-0 start, the Raiders started to feel that old swagger again. Garner and Brown may grumble about their involvement, but the only one who counts anymore is Gannon.

The team now is at 5-4 because Brown, Garner and the entire group of veteran offensive players came together this week. Practices were intense. Veterans spoke at length to get the team out of its four-game funk. Egos were set aside because if the Raiders left Denver at 4-5, they would have been three games behind the Broncos in the AFC West.

"If we are going to lose, we might as well go down throwing fast balls and be aggressive,'' Gannon said. "I thought we had good balance. We had good answers for what the Broncos were doing on defense.''

Actually, this was the ideal game to come out with a game plan of short-passing audibles. The Broncos act like bullies to opponents who try running the ball. They are surrendering only 69 rushing yards a game, which ranks No. 1 in the league. Yet there is a major weakness that the Raiders exposed.

The Broncos aren't so good covering the pass. Teams are completing a staggering 68.1 percent of their passes against the Broncos this year. To make matters worse, the Broncos defense doesn't get interceptions. They have five in nine games.

So coach Bill Callahan and offensive coordinator Marc Trestman came up with the plan of flooding the Broncos two-deep zone with pass after pass. If the Broncos secondary can't stop the short pass and can't intercept the ball, then pass plays are relatively safe.

"Their linebackers are very quick, and with their two-deep zone, we weren't going to be able to take a lot of shots down field,'' Gannon said. "So you need a quarterback who is going to be patient against a defense like that. You take what they give you.''

Gannon stressed tempo and communication in the huddle. According to Callahan, about half of the Raiders' 53 plays were Gannon audibles. Twenty of Gannon's first 29 passes went for only six yards or less.

"It's hard not to take advantage of the weapons we have outside,'' center Barrett Robbins said. "I guess a five-yard pass is just as good as a five-yard run.''

And Gannon is the king of short completions. At his current rate of 29 completions a game, he should break Warren Moon's single-season completion record of 404 by the Raiders' 14th game. He's on pace to shatter the single-season record by 60. And if he is as hot as he was Monday night, he'll break more records.

Only Joe Montana ever completed more than 21 consecutive passes, but Montana needed a two-game stretch to do that. Gannon ran outside the pocket to complete four of four passes for 65 yards. For the most part, though, he stood behind perfect protection from his offensive line and picked the Broncos apart.

Look at his first series. His completions went 6, 9, 4, 3 as they drove for a field goal. Remarkably, even his incompletions are completions. After hitting his first eight, he hit Charlie Garner along the sideline, but the halfback had his body twisted in a way that he didn't have his feet in bounds.

After that, Gannon completed his next 21 and blew out the Broncos. There was one running play during that stretch, but it was really a pass play that was behind the line of scrimmage and was ruled a completion.

"His spirals were on the money in pre-game warmup,'' Robbins said.

Still, when Gannon needed the perfect throw, he made the right play. Twice, he caught Jerry Rice in the end zone for touchdowns of 6 and 34 yards. He waited in the pocket until Jerry Porter split a zone defense and scored on a perfectly-thrown 22-yard touchdown pass.

Once, Gannon scrambled and waited for Garner to make a move into the open field. Garner slipped a defender and caught a 49-yarder with no one around him.

"We respected Denver and their ability to stop the run,'' Callahan said. "Coming into the week, we thought they were very stout. They did an excellent job against the excellent runners in this division. We felt we could mix it up. We wanted to be more balanced in this attack. But as things unfolded, Rich felt very confident and we felt confidence in his ability to manage the game.''

Two years ago under Jon Gruden, the Raiders went to the AFC championship game as the best running team in the NFL. Since then, they've transformed into a team that runs the ball only 21 times a game and throw it 42 times.

"As much as we want to say we are the same people that we were two years ago, we aren't,'' Brown said. "We don't have the same coaches. We have different guys calling plays. We have a different philosophy. It's funny. Now, we don't think about throwing the ball 43 times a game when we know that some of those throws are as good as runs.''

Like it or not, this Pirate Ship is directed by a pilot named Gannon. Fasten your seatbelts and place your tray table in the upright and locked positions. The Raiders will either win or lose through the air.

John Clayton is a senior writer for ESPN.com.